DBZ: DNA Saga
by Ponytail Goddess
Summary: A great evil has totally annihilated Future Trunks' world, searching for the one person who escaped it...
1. Prologue

Greetings, fanfiction lovers! Welcome to my fic, DBZ: DNA Saga, which was formerly known as "Hope Lives On." My fic was unfinished when I left it in 2002, so I would like to start it over with some changes to the plot. This should be significantly better than the first, as I'm much older now, which hopefully will translate out into me being a more advanced writer….hehe, we'll see about that. Anyways, enjoy the fic and don't read the old version because this one will be different!

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ, though it would be pretty cool if I did.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**DBZ: DNA Saga**

_By: Ponytail Goddess_

Prologue

A tiny figure huddled up against the giant hutch containing a ton of old, fancy china, hoping that it would provide her with some stability. She quickly braced herself as the Earth started to tremble once more. Suddenly the hutch started to take small bounces forward as the floor shook hard. The weakened glass doors popped open and a few expensive plates shattered on the floor. She felt a few pieces hit the side of her leg, but the shaking then stopped and the hutch was still upright.

The stop was short-lived though, as the explosions outside kept going, getting louder and louder as the minutes ticked on. The Earth was coming to an end; all hell was breaking loose. Smoke was smoldering in from one of the broken windows, flowing from the ever-present fire outside as the battle for the planet raged on.

Hope elicited a short shriek as the hutch took a few more bounces forward, spilling out more and more precious china. She could feel the sharp broken pieces underneath her shoes, yet she still clung to the hutch for dear life. All was black…not that it mattered much to Hope anyway. It would have been black in the room on a bright and sunny day for Hope. Her blind eyes could not even see the faintest outlines of objects and thus were totally useless. To her, there was no escape from the hellish room. She was certain she would die there.

A whimper escaped her mouth as floor started moving again. The hutch no longer contained any dishes and now was starting to dangerously lurch forward in Hope's arms. She tried to hold it upright, but it was much too heavy. The giant case was hurled to the floor, taking a very distressed Hope right with it. Her arm that was holding the front of the hutch quickly released it as she took a hard landing on the back of the solid oak case. The wind was knocked out of her. Not thinking, she rolled off the edge and landed in the broken china.

"Aaahh!" She moaned sharply as she felt the shards piercing her fragile skin. Slowly, her shaky elbows elevated her torso and she cautiously put down her hands, trying to brush some of the dangerous pieces out of her way. Carefully, she arose to her wobbly legs, only to be knocked down again by a powerful, deafening blast that had clearly hit Capsule Corp.

Quickly, Hope took action. Despite her weakened state, she managed to pull herself up to her hands and knees and scurry over to an overturned sofa, using it to hoist her aching body back onto its feet. For a few moments she just stood there, hunched over, gripping the sofa leg. She took deep breaths and tried to find her orientation again. Hesitantly, she reached her throbbing hand back behind her, trying to feel for something that might still be in place. Her fingers gently brushed a smooth, cool brick surface—the fireplace. She reached out and grasped it with all of her might, finally feeling like she might be safe, even if it was just for a few minutes.

The fleeting moment of calm came and went though, as a thundering sound came down the hallway. Hope gasped for air as her heart tried to pound its way right out of her chest. Her face paled and she froze in place, now holding her breath, hoping that the intruder would not spot her on the far side of the room. The frantically running stranger, however, seemed to go right on past her and further down the hall. The running noise was interrupted by the next explosions, the floors vibrating yet again.

Loosing her balance, one of Hope's arms flailed away from the fireplace. A large, strong hand grabbed it in a tight grip. Natural instinct took over and Hope started screaming and struggling with all of her might, trying to escape the mighty grasp. Kicking, jabbing, and screaming, she was pushed up against the fireplace against her will.

"HOPE-CHAN! HOPE-CHAN!" exclaimed a familiar voice. A slight relief passed over her as she frantically touched his face with her free hand.

"G-Grandpa Trunks?" she whimpered pitifully. Immediately, she burst out crying, whimpering, "I'm so scared grandpa-"

"No time!" He bellowed, easily pulling her up into a piggy-back, "We have to go!"

And with that, he ran. She could feel his uneasy steps as he clamored down the shaking stairwell and through the house roughly, banging her elbows on the doorways like a madman. His speed was intense, though his stride was uneven—an injury, Hope assumed as she heard Trunks rip open the door and exit the remains of Capsule Corporation. There was no relief upon arrival though, no cool breeze to hit their faces. In fact, the air was even hotter outside and filled with smog, which Hope immediately started to choke on. She could feel little droplets of sweat forming on her brow as her grandfather plowed through the wreckage and into the unknown.

"Okay…" he gasped, coming to a sudden halt and letting her go. She heard the familiar 'pop' of a capsule releasing an object in front of her. "Get in, we must hurry! We haven't much time!" With that said, he grabbed her arm and led the way through the smoldering rubble.

"Wait, get in where? Where are you taking me?" Hope asked urgently as she felt her grandfather quickly give her a large boost up into the air and into a worn seat. Becoming quickly alarmed, she grabbed the sleeve of his jacket and jerked it several times with all of her might to get his attention. "GRANDPA! What's going on, please, please, tell me what's going on!"

She heard a sigh, then felt a gentle hand quickly find a place on her shoulder. "It is no longer safe for you here, my sweet. For that reason, your father and I thought it best to send you to the past."

"I'm in the time machine?" She gasped in horror, hoping that she had not heard right. Her hands quickly explored the vicinity, over controls, and she discovered that what she had said was true. A pang of greater fear than before struck her heart: fear of the unknown. "Are you coming with me?"

Click, click, click… She could feel him reaching over her to activate the panels and heard a faint humming noise as the old machine once again came to life. "I'm sorry Hope-chan…I cannot."

Hope mind was on fire now too, the fear spreading fast. Her entire body was shaking with it. "No, NO! What about father?" she asked, panicking and grabbing at Trunks once more.

"He's holding it off right now for your escape. We must hurry Hope-chan. I don't know how long he can hold it off." Replied her grandfather's forlorn voice, which was now hard to hear over the roar of the engine.

"And Gosan is helping?"

Silence.

The answer smacked her in the face as Trunks quickly tinkered with the controls. "NO! No, no, no, no, NO!" She wailed in agony, only to have her mouth immediately covered by a strong hand. Vaguely, she could hear her grandfather trying to say something of comfort, but she was almost gone, blinded by pain as her world crashed down around her. She sobbed uncontrollably.

As fast as she was lost though, she was found, shaken back to the world of heat and smoke by her grandfather's calloused hand, which was no longer gentle, due to the urgency of the situation. "It is time Hope-chan, all is set. Your father and I love you very much; take care of yourself and stay safe. We'll come looking for you when all is settled here." With a kiss on her cheek, he let go of her and pressed a few more buttons. She heard something close around her and all of the chaotic noises from outside suddenly became muffled. She was sealed in, the machine making funny noises as she felt it begin to take the air. Grasping the seat she moaned with fear and reached for a very familiar mind link, but was sucked into time before she could even utter a single word.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Trunks watched as his beloved granddaughter acquired altitude in the old, but efficient time machine that she had, in fact, been named after. "Be careful…" he murmured softly, "You're all I have." While he had checked the time machine over, he had felt his son's ki fizzle out and feared the worse. "But at least you, dearest, will be saf-SHIT!"

Before the word was out of his mouth, Trunks realized that he had made a deadly mistake. "SHIT, SHE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO LAND IT!" Fast as lightning, he pummeled himself through the red, smoky sky towards the rising time machine. Just as he reached the bottom of it, the red hot thrusters came on. His eyes widened, but he had no time to escape, not even time to scream. The deafening blast grounded him back into the soil at a speed unknown to man.

He didn't get back up.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

From a distance, a shadow emerged form its hiding place after witnessing the whole show. "What a shame…what a shame indeed. Trunks was the only fighter here that was worth my time. Too bad he died before I got my second bout with him."

Of course, Trunks was not the target though and was quickly forgotten. His real target had just blasted through time. A small smirk arose on the mouth of evil. "Fools, you think that will stop me?" He cried out with a snort of laughter. Taking a stance, he instantly powered up then grabbed the air and tore it in two, creating a rip in time, which he stepped right through.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

So, what do you think? Please let me know and have an awesome day!

-P.G.


	2. Chapter 1: A Surprise Landing

Hey guys, welcome back to DBZ: DNA Saga. It's time to get this story crackin', so let's go!

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ :(

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**DBZ: DNA Saga**

_By: Ponytail Goddess_

Chapter 1: A Surprise Landing

BAM! A grouchy Saiyajin pulled himself out of a body-shaped imprint that he had just formed on the outside of the Capsule Corporation building. Vegeta frowned at the damage that had just been done to the house. Bulma was not going to be happy about that…she normally didn't allow sparring in the Capsule Corporation yard, but…she wasn't home. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, though not so much anymore, as Vegeta knew that he was in for a verbal lashing when she arrived home from her business trip.

"KAKAROTT! YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT!" He yammered in anger, gritting his teeth.

"Gee Vegeta, I didn't mean t-"

"BIG BANG ATTACK!" Vegeta yelled, interrupting Goku's whining and forcing him to cross his arms in front of his chest as a shield. Both of his feet were planted so firmly on the ground that when the attack hit him and started pushing him back, they plowed two parallel indentions into the grassy lawn. With a quick upward motion, Goku deflected the blast as quickly as possible, up into the air.

"Vegeta! We aren't supposed to use ki blasts in the residential area, remember?" Goku said, taking in a few deep breaths of air after deflecting the monstrous blast.

A low growling noise was emitted from Vegeta's clenched teeth. Without answering, he flew at Goku at a speed faster than light and a skirmish ensued, though it was now just a hand to hand battle, minus ki blasts. Goku was fast, but Vegeta, in his rage, was faster. He used both hands to slam Goku into his yard, leaving a second body print at Capsule Corporation, this time in the grassy yard.

"QUIT HOLDING BACK KAKAROTT! YOU'RE WASTING MY TIME!" Vegeta bellowed, disgusted at the thought that Goku might be holding back for him.

With a grin on his face, Goku easily ripped himself out of the ground and shot a look of challenge to Vegeta. "Okay Vegeta, you win. Are you ready for this?" He said, smirking with that infamous look that all Saiyajins got when they were enjoying a good battle.

"I'M ALWAYS READY, YOU INSOLENT FOOL!" Vegeta cried back, then launched up into the sky, instantly becoming a Super Saiyajin 2. He floated there waiting, his shadow falling upon Goku as he stared down at him.

Without another word, Goku flew up and met him with a storm of punches and kicks, faster than the untrained eye could see. The two golden blurs fought in the sky as if there was no tomorrow, until…

KABOOM!

All hell broke loose.

Goku and Vegeta found themselves flying uncontrollably through the air and slamming into the neighbor's house, dodging large chunks of shrapnel, then jumping down to take cover at the speed of light. They quickly hid in some bushes behind a fence. Glass shattered above them, but Vegeta quickly shot a ki blast up and vaporized it before it hit them.

After a minute or so, the ground ceased to rumble and the air lost its phenomenal power. A dark haze glazed over the entire neighborhood, blocking out the sun and making it impossible to see more than five feet in front of oneself. Vegeta blocked his face with his arm and stood up. Definite damage had been done. Quickly collecting his thoughts, he bravely strode back into his yard, Kakarott not far behind him. There was a huge trail of metal leading up to Capsule Corporation, some large chunks and thousands of small slithers, all shiny and sharp upon the ground.

A not-so-pleasant view came into Vegeta's sight as he got closer to the mansion. There was a crater in the yard…right where the gravity machine had previously been. A small fire was spewing out of the crater.

"Fuck…" He muttered, looking down in disbelief. Something suddenly caught his eye and he reached down and retrieved a decent-sized piece of metal from the rubble and held it up to look at it. One look was all he needed though and in an instant, he threw down the metal and blasted off into the crater.

"What the…Vegeta? What's going on…?" Called a confused Goku, who went to pick up the piece of metal that Vegeta had carelessly thrown down. When he found the piece, his eyes widened and he stood there for a moment in shock. In big black, faded letters, the truth was all too real.

"Hope…TRUNKS!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Hope screamed. The time machine was on fire and she was stuck inside, suffocating from the smoke that was trapped under the glass lid. The metal interior had heated up at an incredible pace and now was nearly unbearable. She tried to reach up and smash the shield with her right hand, only to find that it was trapped in the control panel, which had become distorted upon impact with the ground. Quickly, she tried to pull the thing off and free her arm, but screamed in pain as the panel scalded her hand. She groaned and leaned back into the chair as best as she could, only to feel the worst twinge of pain yet. It shot up her arm that was stuck. Investigating, she gently ran her left arm down her right…there was blood, lots of blood and…oh Kami. In a frenzy, she ripped her hand away, having felt the bone from her right arm, which was sticking out of her skin, broken.

Becoming hysterical, she started screaming for help until the smoke no longer allowed her to. She fell into a coughing fit and felt her body weaken as the heat increased and the smoke grew worse and worse. She could hear the crackling of the flames around her and feel the heat radiating from the panels onto her skin, searing her skin. Suddenly, the machine's feet gave way and Hope found herself tilted at an angle. Alarmed, she again tried to squirm out. She tried to punch a hole in the glass with her left hand, but she was not strong enough. Not being able to get enough air, she slowly started to flicker in and out of consciousness.

Knowing that time was of the essence, she vaguely tried pulling her foot in the air to kick herself out, when a whirlwind of events happened. The glass above her shattered and sprinkled down upon her body as a hand of steal clamped down on her leg and tugged. Her entire body immediately was upside-down, but she screamed in pain as her trapped arm did not move, it being the only thing that held her in the burning death trap. The hand let her go and she toppled back down, onto the hot panel. Again, she felt the burning hot metal singeing her skin through her pants. She head more glass breaking and soon heard a squeaky metal sound. Her arm was free and before she knew it, two hands had grabbed her and pulled her out of the machine.

Hope felt cold air hit her throat and promptly started coughing again. Two seconds later, she felt green grass beneath her and she grabbed two great big handfuls of it, clinging to the ground for dear life. Feeling her stomach take a turn for the worst, she reluctantly let one side go, rolled over, then violently vomited. Totally revolted at the smell and taste in her mouth, Hope hoisted herself up onto her shaky legs, grabbed her broken arm with her good hand, and tottered away.

Just as she was starting to collect her thoughts, the steal hand grabbed her and turned her around. "Just where do you think you're going?" growled a gruff, yet somewhat familiar voice. Hope could not quite place the voice, so in fear, she lashed out at the body in front of her with a power that she didn't even know she possessed. One simple punch was all it took to hear the voice mutter some obscenities and fall to the ground.

Hearing someone else approach her, she quickly took to the air, though her flight was shaky and slow due to her condition. She clung to her broken arm with all of her might, trying to focus on flight. There was a second man following her, she could hear him zooming closer and closer to her, easily catching up. Hope frowned—she had no other plan of escape.

"Hi there miss…," said a much friendlier voice than the first, though this one was totally new to her, "You look hurt. Please let me help." With that, she felt a soft, strong hand grasp her around her waist and pull her out of her forward flight. At first she struggled, but when she realized that she wasn't getting anywhere, she stopped. Her good hand clenched at his gi with all of her might…

…and then she was gone.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"WHAT!" Gasped an utterly confused Goku as he looked at his now empty hands in sheer amazement. She was just there; what just happened?

"KAKAROTT, WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?" Yelled an irritated Vegeta who was now flying through the billows of smoke towards him. As he approached, Goku could see that he sported a swelling black eye and a face that basically said 'touch-me-and-die.'

"SHE DISAPPEARED!" Goku burst out, "I don't know how, I don't know why, but she disappeared!" He was starting to freak out.

Mentally Vegeta smacked himself in the face. Kakarott was a total dumbass. "You idiot, she didn't disappear…SHE TELEPORTED!" He growled in annoyance.

"…but where'd she learn that?" questioned Goku, scratching his head, "and who is she anyway?"

That was an excellent question which Vegeta had already started pondering, one step ahead of Goku. Though he hadn't really gotten that good of a look at her, he had seen that she possessed lavender hair, though it was darker than Trunks'. Indeed, she had somewhat resembled Trunks, though there was something weird about the way she had looked at him that he could not quite describe…perhaps it had been his imagination. Either way, it was obvious that she was some sort of relative to Trunks…maybe his daughter…or a half sister perhaps? Vegeta had no idea.

Sirens awoke him from his deep train of thought and he turned around to see several fire trucks, ambulances, and squad cars piling up in front of Capsule Corporation, along with a crazed mob of confused neighbors, news vans, paparazzi, and random people who were wondering what all of the commotion was all about.

"Oh boy, Bulma's not going to be too happy about this…" Goku said, stating the obvious. In fact, she was going to be pissed, Vegeta thought, as he realized that she was due to arrive home from her business meeting within the next 15 minutes. He had no idea what to tell her when she arrived either, as he didn't even know what the hell was going on. The only thing he knew was that he had to warn her.

"Wait here Kakarott, I'm going to go warn Bulma." He said, then shot off in the direction of her ki, leaving a confused Goku floating in the middle of the air.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Behind the scorched bushes of Capsule Corp. lurked a dark minion of the night with his newly acclaimed partner. He watched carefully as he saw police surrounding the building, taping it off to the public, and pushing the press away as best they could. Investigators were already surrounding the crater where she had landed, taking in the evidence. Because so much was going on, the two sneaky shadows went totally unnoticed.

"She's no longer here…" the follower whispered in the leader's ear, "She's escaped. I cannot sense her."

"I see that…"he muttered back. "No worries though…we have plenty of time. We'll just have to watch ourselves. If she discovers the Z Senshi here, she will have much more protection than she did in her time. We should try and find her before they do…let's go."

"Wait! I see something…" The follower said, pointing an ever-so-cautious finger toward something shiny that lay on the ground about two feet away.

"Indeed," the deep voice muttered eerily, "you have a good eye." He reached out his hand, dragging it across the ground so that nobody would notice, took the object in his hand, and quickly pulled it back.

Nobody saw it.

"This could be useful in the future…yes. Let's go."

There was a small pause.

"Kai Kai"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

So, what do you think? A big thanks goes out to SuperSanne, who was my first and only review for the prologue, despite the fact that it has received 48 hits. My one request is that if you read this, please leave a review so that I know how many actual readers I have and how many people are just taking a peek and deciding not to read the story. Creative criticism is welcome too, as long as you're not a total bitch about it. Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. I'll try to get a new one up as soon as possible.

Note: Sorry about all of the "O's." I needed something to separate all of the different points of view, but none of the symbols I previously used have been working on the stupid document manager, so I'm using "O's." The fact that my indentions aren't working either is pissing me off too, but let's so not even go there...

**Have a great day!**

_-P.G._


End file.
